My short stature didn't matter: NBA legend Bogues

Muggsy Bogues’ claim to fame is that he is, still, the shortest player to set foot on a court in the NBA. At 5’3’’, he seemed out of depth in a league which rewards the bigs, but what he lacked for size he made up for his in heart and hustle. One needn’t look beyond the block on the 7-foot New York Knicks legend Patrick Ewing to establish this trait.

Deccan Herald caught up with the NBA legend to talk about his 14-year career which included a stint alongside Michael Jordan in Space Jam.

Excerpts:

One of the most spoken about events of your career has to be that block on Patrick Ewing… Also, what do you think is the future of the small ball in the league?

Well, that was a great block on Patrick Ewing. I let him know the minute it took place that he was going to be part of my highlight reel. As for the second question, each era creates its own type of trend and I think small ball has just alluded to the way it is now because of the era. Back then when we played, we had a lot more set position as you say. We had small guys playing. The day has changed, there is a lot more emphasis on the skill set. We got guys who are no longer seven feet, with their back toward the basket, they bring the ball up starting the offense. You know we got a lot more emphasis on the 3-point line, and so that translates to more scoring, they want quickness and that probably translated to smaller balls. Only team that does it right now is Houston and they have had a lot of success right now. A big man is always going to have a play for this game, because that's what it is, a big man’s game.

Now that three-point shooters are so vital, how do you think the scenario would play out in NBA Finals and the one place where you could kind of say that the Miami Heat has an advantage over the LA Lakers is the depth of the three-point shooting that they have. So, how do you think the purple and gold could nullify that threat?

If a team likes to shoot three-pointers, you must try to make them do things that they're not comfortable doing, like shooting twos. So, you know it is going to be a great interesting series, especially with Miami and the Lakers, the two different teams, two different styles. It’s going to be very interesting. They got a lot of three-point shooting on the Miami side, but you got capable three-point shooting on the Lakers side. So it’s going to be interesting.

A lot of talk about your career is always about your size disadvantage. Can you tell me during your playing days, what did you consider as an advantage?

You know I never looked at it as an advantage or a disadvantage. I just looked at as having the ability to play the game that you wanted to. Whatever your position is you got to play it to the best of your ability. Regardless, I just happen to be small, I knew how to run my team, I knew how to make the guys around me better, at the same time I knew how to score as well. So, with those elements, it allowed me to play at the highest level. With that being said, having other guys to be able to complement your skillset, also plays a very big part.

When you entered the NBA, obviously a lot of emphases was on your height. How did you know to tailor your game according to what the demands were of the NBA? How did you adapt to that situation?

I was thankful to have a guy that took me under their wing, Moses Malone. He taught me the important stuff, how to continue to be effective in the NBA. And the dos and the don'ts. You know, being highly drafted and felt like you knew you had an organisation that was solely committed, and then you realise that that wasn't the case. So you know you had to regroup and get that confidence, get that swagger back and you know because people thought that my career was over once I left Washington and came to Charlotte, you know, you got to regroup, re-tool and re-emphasise on the thing that's important. My point of view was, how to run a team. How to be a disruptor on the defence with your opponent. And at the same time using your skills to be featured man, and being able to get your shout out and do all those things and I was able to start to do those things in Charlotte, and I think that’s when you know my career started turning around.

How was it mentally to enter the league as the shortest player? Was it constantly at the back of your mind? Did you feel disgruntled at some point? Did you do anything to actively get taller?

It’s normal that you keep going back to the ‘being short’ question. I have no problem with that. As a smaller player and knowing that I come from a small family, relatively I felt like we're going to get much taller. So, I accepted that, my mom was only five feet, my brother was 5’6, my dad was 5’5, my sister was my 5’1 so I knew I was going to get that five feet. And that was something that I already accepted. As a kid growing up in the city of Baltimore, I guess every kid wished they were tall at some point of time. But I never hung up on it or never wished I was taller or make myself taller or eat different food or anything. When I was five, I got shot. When I got shot at the age of five, it changed me. My mindset was to the point where I just didn’t care about what anybody said or anybody thought, I just kept believing in me I wanted to do something. So that kind of gave me a wall, where to say that I had to let that penetrate. You know, I really wish that I wanted to be tall. But I accepted it and I just accepted who I was and that’s why probably I was a little different from a lot of people but that's why I was there. I had that outlook of life, and that type of belief and I never kind of wished anything else.

Do you think Miami have a fighting chance against the Lakers?

They definitely have a fighting chance against the Lakers. The way I look at Bam Adebayo, Anthony Davis, Jimmy Butler and LeBron James, Jimmy always kind of gave some kind of difficulties back in the day. So, it's going be a great matchup, great series. That all depends on how the role players play the other guys continue to play. I can't believe that Miami only lost two games. This is mind-boggling. It’s a hard time right now. You know that they only lost two games, they’ve got a plan, and they really have a fighting chance.

There is one personality on the Heat, Pat Riley. He has been so crucial to what Miami has done in this decade and last decade. What do you think of him of his impact as a coach and an executive?

He is a great guy, he is brilliant. He sees it, he is a visionary. He sees it, he executes it to the best of his ability. What he has done with the Miami Heat is remarkable. The Heat and Charlotte came in at the same time and what they have accomplished over the years, the championship pedigree and the culture they have continued to create even in the day. Not knowing that you don’t have a no.1 bonafide star, but you got a star in Jimmy Butler. These guys are haven’t been drafted, still being developed, guys that could fit the program. He is a visionary, that’s why Miami Heat are in the situation they are in today.

Would you want to speak a little bit more about the impact Moses Malone had on your career and his impact on the legacy of basketball itself?

He was a gentleman that impacted so many lives and he had to have another teammate on his team who had to be 7-7 in the team and he ensured we all got along well on the team. For both of us, you know, we all kind of got along wonderfully together. And it was such a sight to see. But Moses is just a patient young man. He has been around the ranks and he understood success in the league, and he understood what players need to do. The first thing he told me was use it for your business. Use it to get the best of your ability. He said get to the basket, get to the basket as much as you can, you get to alleviate and keep the shot going. I always kept that in the back of my mind and the things that I knew I had to do. My time got cut short with Washington, so he and I didn’t spend much time with one another but in the Summertime, he was my guy. He came to all my events that I had for my foundation and recently me and my wife got married and my birthday five years ago and the big fella was standing right there with me at the wedding. We shared some good moments and I am thankful that I had him in my life the time I did.

Many would say that Lakers are the favourites heading into the NBA Finals, social justice events taking place in the country and LeBron being directly involved with all of them. What do you think his mindset is going to be? And what do you think the Lakers as a whole unit would be hoping to achieve in the NBA Finals?

Oh, the Lakers. I mean, you can hear it in LeBron's message in his speech, his energy. He's a student of the game. He understands the importance of the Lakers making it to the Finals as well as himself, that’s Laker’s pedigree. They are championship pedigree type of organization. So that's not a reason not to go there. And he understands. And he wants to win. He just mentioned things that happened with Kobe, you know the legacy, the culture. I mean, he got all that in the front of his mind, he knows that. He is thinking about the Finals. He feels that this is his best chance at this particular time to close the championship and to bring it back, it has been quite some years. He has a sidekick like AD so his chances are high. So, I think Miami will give them a fight, but I can't see them overcoming the Lakers.

If Lakers wins the championship, he will go ahead in the greatest of all-time race, what are your opinion on that?

That’s a stretch for me. There will be some unbelievable accolades. He took three teams to the finals and it is remarkable. It’s a testament of his body of work off the court. His body is making sure that he is up for that. I’ll leave that to other folks to decide. But again, Michael Jordan is still the one who surpassed everybody on the basketball court.

This is the age of the small ball, would you have loved to play in this era?

I would've loved to play in this era. You see a lot of speed going on, not a lot of physicality but there’s a lot of openness in the games. There’s a lot of shooting going with the shooters out there who can penetrate and create for your teammates, that would have been a blast. So, yes, I would've loved to play now.

How was your experience in acting and how was your experience working with Michael Jordan in the film Space Jam?

It was an unbelievable experience. Getting an opportunity to work with good teammates and friends like Patrick, Michael, Larry Johnson and Sean, Charles Barkley. We just had a lot of fun; I mean it was just amazing. We had no idea that it would turn out to be the iconic classic that people remember and talk about till today. But we had a lot of fun! I remember this one time, we had a morning shoot, but Johnson wanted to get a haircut, so he decided to get a haircut from one of the gentlemen that was on the set. The guy had never cut an African American hair before, so he experimented on his head and he gave him a bowl cut! So, we had to wind up the shooting that morning and take it up later that day. That was a one funny incident.